BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — The chief suspect in a government corruption scandal that has rocked the southern African nation of Malawi faces charges of fraud and money laundering.

Authorities say businessman Oswald Lutepo was released on bail on Tuesday after being arrested over the weekend for an additional charge of perjury linked to the corruption investigation in one of Africa’s poorest countries.

The perjury charge relates to a July 17 letter in which Lutepo alleges state officials forced him to implicate some senior government figures in the administration of the former president, Joyce Banda, in the graft, and to say that others were not involved.

Lutepo is among about 70 suspects accused in a scandal in which at least $300 million was looted from government coffers.

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